‘How long are you here for?’ ‘Three months’, I answered. The Catholic monk, who had been in Israel for many years, replied, ‘That means you will never write anything about Israel. The people who write books and reports never stay for more than ten days.’ It seems easy from a distance to see what should happen, but the more one studies the situation in the Middle East, the more complex it appears.

I have, in fact, written a little about the situation in the past, but I am not a military or political analyst. I hesitate to comment on the present situation, but who can refuse Kamran Mofid when he asks one to do something? I do not want to give some ‘quick-fix’ answer from outside nor to second guess the ever shifting political situation. Instead this essay is an attempt to answer for myself whether there is anything helpful that the outsider can do or say.

Of course, we can give money to help the many people who have been displaced in the recent conflict and to support local relief efforts. The Middle East Council of Churches, for example, is one of the agencies bringing relief in Lebanon - distributing food parcels and helping to provide fresh water and sanitation in the south of the country. Members of Rabbis for Human Rights, ‘a rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel’, visited bomb shelters in the north of Israel and they have called on people elsewhere to adopt refuges from the danger zone.

In the longer term, there are also many Palestinian educational and health projects, which welcome support. Even more urgent perhaps – and appropriate action for activists in ‘Globalization for the Common Good’ – is to press for the rebuilding and strengthening of the Palestinian economy. I have visited Palestinian refugee camps and sensed the alienation, especially of young people who cannot find employment.

The outlines of a settlement to the Israeli-Palestine situation are in place - but there is a lack of trust and the will to implement it. As participants in the recent conflict in Lebanon argue who were the winners, I am more convinced than ever that in war there are no winners. I also fail to see why delaying a cease fire did anything to contribute to a lasting peace. It not only caused much death and suffering but it has also added to the accumulated bitterness and resentment that makes peace so difficult.

In the middle of the Second World War, the Scottish poet Edwin Muir, in a poem called ‘The Wheel’ recognised that ‘long since rusted knives stab us from behind.’ ‘Revengeful dust,’ he wrote, ‘rises up to haunt us. History plagues us like a relentless wheel. Who can set a new mark or circumvent history?’

Can outsiders by their empathy and prayers help Palestinians and Israelis to transcend their fears and grievous sense of injustice to seek reconciliation which is the real basis for a lasting peace?

Fear. A root cause of the difficulties in the Middle East is fear. Outsiders need to acknowledge these fears, whether or not they are well founded. My first visit to Israel was in the 1958. I remember that as we entered the church of the Dormition, in the then divided city of Jerusalem, I had an uneasy feeling as I saw that Jordanian rifles were trained upon us. When we travelled in Galilee or to the Dead Sea our guide was armed. Geography makes clear why a return to pre-1967 boundaries does not offer Israel security.

Israel was born in insecurity and fear. Once my wife Mary and I were waiting for a taxi at Safed or Zefat - in fact, it came so late that we were not allowed to board the plane - and as we chatted to the receptionist, who had come from Eastern Europe, she kept saying, ‘I know one day they will come and drive us out.’ The ‘they’, of course, were the Arabs, who would re-enact her childhood terror of the Nazis.

Many Israelis feel that their country is very small compared to the large number of surrounding Arab nations. They believe that Hamas and Hizbollah and the President of Iran, if they were able to, would act upon their threat to drive the Jews into the sea. In the early nineteen thirties many people, including the church people who initially welcomed Hitler’s rise to power, felt his threats against the Jews were unbelievable and the rhetoric of a fanatic. No Jew today would risk underestimating any threat to their security. They are aware also of the international community’s failure to prevent more recent acts of genocide. To outsiders, the Israeli military machine seems very powerful, but Israelis fear that only one defeat would be fatal. If you are fighting for your life, you do not pull your punches.

Some Palestinians also fear that they will be driven out. In the last half century many have lost their homes and their lands. I have also sensed the constant fear that accompanies many Palestinians in their daily life. There was the Arab who had taken a photograph of our group at the Dome of the Rock. I asked him to bring the photos to our hotel, but when I told him where we were staying, at a hotel in West Jerusalem, his face dropped. I did not at first understand why he could not come to the hotel. Then I realised he was terrified that, although his purpose was totally innocent, he was afraid that he would be picked up by the police, who would not believe his reason for being in West Jerusalem and that he might be put into prison. The security situation is such that although you know you are innocent, the soldiers who search you may not think so. A husband driving his wife to hospital to have a baby may be shot at. An innocent bystander may be killed or injured when a ‘terrorist’ is attacked – one more example of collateral damage! Mothers who cannot stop teenage sons from joining in protests are anxious lest their children end up in prison.

There is fear too in Lebanon that the Israelis will be back. Those who work for peace and understanding also have reason to fear that they will be regarded as ‘collaberators’.

Fear is ever present. Outsiders need to go on supporting the patient work of many interfaith and peace groups who seek to dispel such fear, by helping people to see the other not as ‘enemy’, but as a fellow human being. In part this is the work of education and of dispelling ignorance and prejudice. For example, there was a project - in which Dr Coos Schoneveld, who for some years was secretary general of ICCJ, took an active part - to produce common history and religious syllabuses, so that Israeli and Palestinian children could learn to see both sides of their complex history and learn a fair picture of the other’s religion. Even more important are the efforts of Neve Shalom and other groups to encourage Israelis and Palestinians, especially the younger generation, to meet and learn to live together.

In the hopeful summer of 2000 that many Israeli women were learning Arabic. I hope they have not given up. Small everyday behaviour can sow the seeds of peace. It is a sign of hope that even during the recent conflict the Interfaith Encounter Association has continued to meet. Soon after the capture of soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon, the youth group met - not for political debate, but to study what both Jewish and Muslim sources say about how prisoners should be treated. More recently, eleven Jerusalemites - Muslims, Christians and Jews – met, despite the war and the bloodshed, to plan next year’s programme of dialogue, so as to continue to build bridges between the communities. .

Fears, whether or not they are well founded, are real. It is a slow patient process to dispel them

Justice. But peace requires justice. Justice and Only Justice is the title of the book by Naim Ateek, a leading member of the Anglican church in Jerusalem. The demand for justice should transcend religious differences. On my last visit, I was particularly impressed by the members of Rabbis for Human Rights, whom I met, who campaign for justice for Palestinian families. and who have helped to rebuild houses demolished by the. Some have helped to rebuild Arab homes that had been destroyed by the authorities because they do not have the required planning permission. Others had taken part in public protests. There are Israeli lawyers who defend accused Palestinians.

It is important that when, as outsiders, we protest against the abuse of human rights or the hi-jacking of innocent civilians, that we do so together as Jews, Muslims and Christians. None of us are in a position to claim the moral high ground and to lecture others on how to behave. This is why Alexandria Declaration, endorsed by Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders, which calls for peace in the area, is particularly important. ‘According to our faith traditions’, it says, ‘killing innocents in the name of God is a desecration of his Holy Name, and defames religion in the world. The violence in the Holy Land is an evil which must be opposed by all people of good faith. We seek to live together as neighbours, respecting the integrity of each other’s historical and religious inheritance. We call upon all to oppose incitement, hatred, and the misrepresentation of the other.’

It is also encouraging that the Israel Interfaith Co-ordinating Committee, despite its varied membership, could issue this statement about the recent conflict:

Forgiveness and reconciliation. But is justice enough? Arthur Balfour - famous or infamous for the Balfour declaration - was at the end of the nineteenth century Chief Secretary for Ireland. An Irishman complained that his policies were a denial of justice for the Irish people. ‘Justice?" said Balfour thoughtfully, ‘There isn’t enough to go round.’ Is there enough justice to go round in the Middle East?

Certainly injustice should be acknowledged and saying sorry, as for example the Pope said sorry in Jerusalem for Christian anti-Judaism, is significant and important, but sadly the wrongs of the past cannot be undone. Much as we would like to, we cannot reverse the wheel of history.

Can our religions help people to let go of their natural feelings of bitterness and even of revenge. How do we address the wounds not healed by time? By accepting the hurt, we make space for forgiveness and reconciliation. I hesitate to speak about this, as I have been spared the terrible suffering that so many people have endured, but I think of the wonderful example of Israeli and Palestinian parents, whose children have been killed in the intifada, who have come together to work for peace.

‘Do you know what causes me pain?’ is the disturbing question asked in a Platform Statement of the Sternberg Centre Jewish Christian and Muslim Dialogue Group. The Statement adds ‘Since it is God’s will that we should strive to become, as best we can the servants of God’s love and compassion, we should seek to resolve disputes by means of forgiveness, empathy and reconciliation and encourage others to do the same.’

There is a moving prayer written recently by someone living in Tel Aviv.

Although it is often easier to reinforce the justified anger of those who tell us of their sufferings, the best way outsiders can show true friendship, I believe, is to be with others in their pain, help them to move beyond it, and assure them that many people of every faith still hope and pray for a just and lasting peace in the area

2,235.

The Interfaith Encounter Association, Jerusalem, www.interfaith-encounter.org

The Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, www.icci.co.il

Rabbis for Human Rights www.rhr.israel.net

Neve Shalom – Whatal AlSalam – Oasis of Peace www.nswas.com

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